Yesterday I thought my old guys nose looked a little crusty and that his nostrils were a bit flared, then this morning my mom text me(she does AM feedings) that he has green shots coming out of his nose.
I don't know if it's related, but off and on for a few days, he hasn't finished his food, he eats a good amount, but then just walks away. My mom hasn't said anything about him not finishing his feed in the am, but she isn't as observant as I am.
I'm going to be feeding in a few hours so I will take a pic of his nose. Yesterday he was acting completely normal, greeting me at the gate and walking on my heels the whole way back, nudging me to walk faster lol. Then biting the other horses butts as usual.
Is this a wait and see how he is sort of thing or should I have the vet come out? I know it's not strangles or anything as he hasn't been off the property in 7 years and there are no new horses or anything.

AnneGage

04-07-2013 04:57 PM

Green discharge is definitely a sign of infection of some sort. Being off his feed - even a little bit - is another indication that he is not well. Take his temperature and call your vet.

Rachel1786

04-07-2013 05:59 PM

Temp is normal at 98.8, nose isn't oozy just crusty still, will post pic when I get home.Posted via Mobile Device

spirit88

04-07-2013 06:22 PM

Could he possibly be having a. mild choke episode. Just a thought ..

Rachel1786

04-07-2013 06:41 PM

I don't think so, but i guess its possable since he has no teeth and still tries to eat hay, what are the signs? He ate most of his mash today, what he left was stuck to the bottom of his dish, I let him otside and let my mare finish it, then he chased my mom's fat appy away from his food and ate that.Posted via Mobile Device

Rachel1786

04-07-2013 07:20 PM

2 Attachment(s)

Here are the pics of his yucky nose :?

cakemom

04-07-2013 08:36 PM

That looks vet worthy to me.Posted via Mobile Device

waresbear

04-07-2013 08:44 PM

Something is wrong there, call a vet before it gets worse.

Rachel1786

04-08-2013 10:07 PM

I didn't call the vet yesterday because I wasn't going to pay an emergency call on a Sunday for a snotty nose(it's $75 just for her to come out on a schedule visit). I was going to call today but my when I asked my mom how it looked she said it looked a lot better. I went out to check and it's about 75% better, he only has a bit of clear/whiteish discharge now.
My mom thinks it may be related to deworming(we are both former small animal vet techs) because we had a cat with us for long term boarding, she vomited up worms so we dewormed her, shortly after she developed a slight upper respiratory infection, which just like with Blue was gone within a few days. The vet my moms friend works for(and said cats vet) says it's common for animals to get respiratory infections after deworming if that had a larger worm load. I've never seen a horse get one before, but I guess it's possible. Either way, I'll be keeping a close eye on him, he ate very well today. He's very finicky, since he has no teeth his feed gets soaked and there is a very fine line between too dry and too wet, and he's not happy if it's not perfect, like today, I made it too wet so he tossed his dish(which is supposed to be tip proof) and dumped all his food on the floor, then ate most of it.